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There is seriously a curse on our anniversary.Our honeymoon forever set the bar too high and after last year’s hillbilly hoe-down (no seriously, there was actually a {prostitute} involved) we thought we’d “play it safe” and have a nice little staycation in Dallas.

And God laughed and laughed and laughed at poor Devin Bybel and her need to control and plan everything to a “t.”

Let’s begin.

It all started with a Groupon. The ever schwanky and raved about {Adolphus Hotel} which is described with words such as “grandeur,” “luxury,” “elegance,” and “4-Diamond” was offering us regular folk an opportunity to stay in their lovely establishment at just a fraction of the cost! Oh, how many nights I laid awake counting my lucky stars. A night at The Adolphus…how magical!

And that’s pretty much where that party ended.

We arrived and valeted our car (for the low low rate of $35/night – kill me now) and let the bellman know that we had dinner reservations and would need the car later this evening. “Just come down 5 minutes before you need to leave,” the Bellman said. So many lies.

A 4-Diamond welcome never occurred as the front desk agent never even bothered to ask how we were or what we were doing staying at their “elegant” palace. But she did use her finger to point to the escalator that would take us to the elevator. Thanks, lady.

Arriving in our room we got ready for our dinner and being the control-freak I am, we arrived TEN whole minutes early down at the valet. And we watched the clock tick-tick-tick. 5 minutes…10 minutes…15 minutes…lots of valets running around but no Bybel car in sight. Twenty minutes passes and now we’re calling the restaurant to tell them we’ll be late for our reservation. Perfectly pissed = Devin. Continue reading →

Folklore:

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The family is getting back together!
After two long years away, my parents are moving back to Texas – in fact, they were wheels up this morning on their way to the Lone Star State.
We couldn’t be more excited…except for the fact that they have to leave Seattle.

Pete and I love it there. The food, wine, company and scenery are absolutely to die for. So before we lost the privilege of having free room & board in one of our favorite places, we knew we had to make a short trip back (and help with the packing, of course).
You may remember that we went for a {visit} back in February 2013. It was Pete’s first time so we focused a lot more on the tourist-y sites and we were excited to expand upon our repertoire this time after hitting up a few of our fave places.

Folklore:

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After 12 years in Texas, Pete and I conquered some good ‘ole, down-home, {Texas State Park} camping, y’all!

Here are the Bybel’s Top 5 Texas State Park Camping Tips

1.) Bring a hammock2.) Read your reservation(You might book a “walk-in” site. You might also pack 4 trips worth of stuff and a husband with terribly hurt back and the site might be 1/2 mile away…one way.)3.) Put your tent in the trees, not by the lake.(Unless you like 25 mph winds from 12:00am-6:00pm)4.) Back your {Lodge}. Make frittata in the morning.5.) Enjoy the sunsets…in your hammock

Happy camping, friends!
{Devin}

Folklore:

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By day four of a non-stop, on your feet, crowd crazy vacation all I wanted to do is stop and sit.
I could have gotten on the plane first thing in the morning but the overly priced Disney tickets had already been bought and couldn’t go to waste. Lucky for us Hollywood Studios was the perfect recipe for the leaden leg and end of vacation blues.

I knew there were only about 3-4 rides worth taking the time for this park, so I had sneakily planned this park for the last day of our trip for the following reasons:1.) There’s less to do and we had a plane that was taking off in the late afternoon2.) Tons of shows to sit at3.) Smaller park = less walking4.) It’s just not as magical as the other parks. There, I said it. Not as magical and no shame about it.

Folklore:

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It had set in but regardless of heavy eyes and leaden legs we were at Epcot before the gates opened standing it throngs of sleepy kids and cranky parents. We were there when the grand announcement was made and confetti bombs went off exactly at 8:00am for one reason only – Soarin’.

I had stood in line for 2 hours for Soarin’ before. While it’s an awesome ride, I’d be a sucker if I fell for that mess again. It was #1 on the list of things to do that day and I had every intention of marking it off before 8:10am.

We sprinted past the GGB (Giant Golf Ball [not the official name]) and made it straight into the front row for the first round of Soarin’ spectators that day. Victory is mine! And as we walked off the ride we heard a passerby remark that they were already out of Fast Passes for the entire day. VICTORY IS MINE AGAIN!Continue reading →